January 22nd, 2024

1/22/24 UF GAU Weekly Newsletter

Upcoming Events
1/22 Monday - Tabling at Fifield Hall 10am-2pm
1/23 Tuesday - Tabling at Reitz 1pm-5pm
1/24 Wednesday- Tabling at Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm
- Stewards Meeting 5-6pm at Carr Hall 611 and Zoom
1/25 Thursday - Tabling at Norman Hall 1pm-5pm
- Bargaining session 1-3pm at Reitzz 3320 and Zoom

Save the date:
2/6 Tuesday    -Social at 5pm at Rhines Hall Rm 125
2/12-15    - BLITZ (sign up here)

Blitz
In February we’re goin crazyy. We are recruiting volunteers for our second blitz, from February 12-15. We will canvass and table across campus to reach as many graduate assistants as possible. We aim to reach our goal of 1776 signed interest cards! We’ll give you the deets at our stewards meeting on 1/24 and our social on 2/6! Sign up for a shift or two now!  

Bargaining Updates
from Friday, Dec 8th
See YouTube for Full Recording

Today we got 3 counter-proposals from the UF team - GAU didn’t propose any new articles. 

• Article 16 (GAU Rights) was the first 
  • The only substantial change was that they reverted our FTE total for released time positions back to the current contract amount (4.32 FTE)
    • This is a problem because we plan to move RTs to .5 FTE. Patrick says we wouldn’t be prevented from using the final .32 FTE - we plan to counter this in our next proposal so we have a round number.
• Article 21 (Discipline) 
  • Many changes were made to this since it was proposed by Brandon a few weeks ago. Many are simple wording changes, either shortening bits of the proposal or clarifying things that were unclear. Of note, they:
    • Clarified what the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is - in GAU’s previous proposal, we proposed using this more for professions improvement planning (PIP) purposes, but they clarified its intended purpose is for employees who require counseling support for issues in the workplace. An example is someone who is very angry and is taking this out on colleagues - this person may be referred for 6 weeks of counseling through the EAP to work on other ways of dealing with these emotions. 
    • GAU is working with the UF team to clarify steps of discipline for misconduct vs. “incompetence.” This is a rare issue, but would leave some GAs vulnerable to supervisor abuse through such a channel. 
    • UF removed the proposed section on disciplinary actions of bathroom use for trans GAs. In the last proposal, GAU asked for students in violation of new Florida bathroom laws to be disciplined only up to written reprimand. 
      • UF removed this protection because they are “not interested” in pre-determining the outcome of a disciplinary issue. 
• Article 4 (Appointments, Reappointments, and Terminations) 
  • Many changes were made to Article 4 since Hannah proposed it a few weeks ago. Of note: 
    • UF has removed the line GAU proposed that recognizes the importance of letters of offer in the recruitment and retainment of top quality GAs. They removed it because it is not enforceable. 
    • For letters of offer, UF did add in additional language that “encourages departments to provide such multi-year support when feasible, in accordance with this agreement.”
    • UF removed language explaining the standardization of .5 FTE levels for GAs. Since they have kep language that recognizes the importance of 12 month appointments, they didn’t think this was important. 
      • Standardizing GAs to .5 FTE was an initiative from the previous provost and is important for ensuring GAs receive relatively consistent support across units.  
    • UF has agreed to send out a written communication when CBA changes are made in the middle of a semester which would affect the bargaining unit. For example, when Article 10 is ratified and minimum stipends / raises come into effect, an official communication (on university letterhead) will be sent to all affected GAs. This specific example would be helpful for students who need to provide proof of income for renting or other reasons. 
      • However, UF removed previous GAU proposal language that if an individual GA’s appointment details were changed once their LOA was signed, they would be sent an updated letter which requires a signature and to be re-filed. 
        • This is important because the updated LOA would be the appointment for which a student would be evaluated for at the end of the semester / appointment period. 
    • In the section on changes in appointment, UF has removed all language included in the previous GAU proposal to support GAs whose appointment lines are suddenly curtailed, diminished, or terminated. These protections were: 
      • That the university would take all measures possible to re-assign the GA for the remained of their SIGNED appointment period 
      • Or in the case this was not possible, to offer up to 20 weeks severance pay to those GAs
    • Instead, what they agreed to was to increase the notification window of such changes from 15 days (as per the current contract) to 30 days. 
  • Finally, UF proposed that 9-month GAs may be offered a summer appointment without the department being required to offer the student tuition remission for the summer session. 
    • Though this may be beneficial to some current 9-month GAs, GAU bargaining team sees multiple potential risks to this proposal:
      • International students would likely be required to take classes if offered a GA position, meaning they would have to pay out of pocket for tuition. 
      • All GAs may be required to pay tuition should the department not waive the requirement to take courses to be in a GA appointment. 
      • This may open a “back door” for departments to decrease the number of 12 month appointments they offer, as it would be cheaper to offer GAs 9 month appointments and summer appointments in which they do not provide tuition remission. 
    • GAU will work on these issues in the next proposal of Article 4. 

Position Statement on SB 264
Senate Bill (SB) 846, entitled “Agreements of Educational Entities with Foreign Entities” was passed by the Florida legislature Spring 2023 and took effect July 1, 2023. The Board of Governors (BoG) for the Florida State University System (SUS) recently released rules specifying implementation of this new law for higher education. This law affects international graduate assistants coming from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, Venezuela, or the Syrian Arab Republic. UF-GAU wanted to notify you of the most important aspects of this new law so you may prepare accordingly: 
 
Hiring

• Hiring new graduate assistants from these countries is not illegal. 
• New graduate assistants coming from these countries will be subjected to additional screening by a UF entity known as the Research Integrity Office (forceably created as part of this rule change) prior to being offered employment. 
  • This screening will include verification of “all attendance, employment, publications, and contributions listed in the application required prior to any interview or offer of a position to the applicant.” 
  • Additionally, “screening entities may also direct the Research Integrity Office to approve applicants for hire based on a risk-based determination considering the nature of the research and the background and ongoing affiliations of the applicant.” How “risk” is calculated is not specified in the BoG documentation. 
  • For applicants who are denied employment because they “failed” this screening, the Research Integrity Office is to report their name to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and “to any law enforcement agency designated by the Governor or Board of Governors.”

 
Travel

• All researchers must receive pre-approval and screening for travel to foreign countries by the Office of Research Integrity. 
• Specialized reports about researcher travel to the “foreign countries of concern” listed in the opening paragraph, including traveler identities, foreign locations visited, and foreign institutions visited, will be given each year to the BoG by the Office of Research Integrity. 

 
Grants & Partnerships 

• “Beginning July 1, 2023, a state university may not accept any grant from or participate in any new or renewed agreement with any college or university based in a foreign country of concern, or with any foreign principal without approval from the Board of Governors.”
• “Beginning December 1, 2023, a state university may not participate in any new or renewed partnership with any college or university based in a foreign country of concern, or with any foreign principal without approval from the Board of Governors.”
  • This means that graduate assistants funded by institutions in their home country (if their home country is one of the ones listed in the opening paragraph) will likely need special approval from the BoG to continue to receive that funding.  
• “A university may, with approval from the Board of Governors, enter into a new or renewed partnership or agreement with a college or university based in a foreign country of concern if such partnership or agreement is deemed by the Board to be valuable to students and the state university and is not detrimental to the safety or security of the United States or its residents.”
• To request special approval from the Board of Governors, “each university board of trustees must submit a request to the Board office with the following information. (1) Entity with which the university is entering into an agreement or partnership (2) Location of the entity reported in (8)(c)(1) (3) Expected start and end date of the agreement or partnership (4) Purpose and benefits of the agreement or partnership (5) Any identified risks of the agreement or partnership (6) Projected number of students, faculty, and university staff participating in the agreement or partnership (7) Estimated budget and source of funds to support the agreement or partnership (8) Other information as requested by the Chancellor.”
• “Prior approval from the Board is not required for partnerships established through approved programs operated by organizations of the federal government.”

 
Future Employment 

• Graduate assistants cannot accept jobs at institutions in any of the countries listed in the opening paragraph while they are still employed by a Florida university. 

 
UF-GAU finds this law and accompanying BoG rule changes to be a xenophobic attack on our academic community, which thrives on international collaboration. If you are impacted by these rule changes, we want to hear about your experiences and how we can support you. For those receiving assistantships from an institution in any of the countries listed in the opening paragraph, we are happy to assist you in your appeal to the BoG to maintain that funding. Additionally, please keep us informed of any discriminatory hiring practices occurring in your department as a result of this rule change. We will continue to keep graduate assistants as informed as possible as we learn more information.
UPDATE:
We are currently requesting to meet with VP of HR to correct what we perceive as inaccurate guidance. We will be joing the UF faculty union to address this urgent issue on a united front.


Organizing Updates
We are in our final push for card signing! Do you have a card folder with signed cards? Please bring them to us ASAP! You can bring them to our table at any location or send us an email at [email protected]

We have about 30% membership and 1,100 interest cards signed! We need around 700 more cards to go, since we need to reach ~1,776 by early February! 


Committee Help Needed
Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! Do you have thoughts on how to improve GatorGradCare? Please join our Healthcare Committee by emailing chair Nathan Ardnt, [email protected]. Have concerns about issues affecting international students? Join our international committee by getting on our discord and letting us know! 


Connect With Us
Email us: [email protected]
Join our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224)
Find us at a tabling event: 1/22: Fifield Hall 10am-2pm, 1/23: Reitz 1pm-5pm and at the plant science symposium. 1/24: Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm, 1/25: Norman Hall 1pm-5pm